Feature: Best Nintendo Switch Metroidvania Games

I would add Owlboy to this list. Not the most fun to play, but it’s absolutely beautiful, with a story that made me tear up a couple of times.

"The word 'Metroidvania' might rub some gamers the wrong way"...

Yep.

Pretty great list! A few comments, though:

I do not think Guacamelee 2 should be on the list over Guacamelee 1. Not nearly as good/memorable.

I do not think Half Genie Hero should be on the list over Pirate's Curse. Not only is it not as good (not even close), but it's not really even much of a Metroidvania.

Very disappointing that Monster Boy isn't on the list.

I hate Dead Cells. But I get why it's here.

I'm ok with Owlboy not being on the list, but it's really pretty darn good. Wouldn't have minded seeing it mentioned.

Overall, though...nice list! Makes me think I shouldn't have written off Mummy Demastered! Maybe I'll pick it up. I think I'll continue to stay away from Iconoclasts, though. I don't know what it is, but I find that game's whole vibe to be very unappealing.

These are some of the best games on Switch, let alone best Metroidvanias. Especially Hollow Knight!

Oh, and Monster Boy and The Dragon’s Trap also both definitely deserve to be in the mix. Wonder Boy has been doing Metroidvanias far longer than Castlevania has.

Nice list. I would Salt and Sanctuary and Unworthy to this.

Once upon a time these were called arcade adventure games.

Half-Genie Hero being on here in lieu of Pirate's Curse is unthinkable.

Momodora is a neat little Metroidvania, give it a try.

I own them all😎

I just wish a lot of indie games didn't run with the "pixel-vania" formula. Makes them feel interchangeable.

Great list, though I think The Messenger is a great game and it's Metroidvania component is it's weakest element, and Shantae is just the pits, and outclassed by Monster Boy in every single regard.

@JR150 same here, the pixel art thing leaves me totally cold.

Cave Story is a great game indeed, just not a Metroidvania.

Also, I’m not sure why you keep bringing up that non-existent Samus Returns Switch port each and every time you can, as if it were actually coming (spoilers: it’s not); it’s starting to get irksome to see it mentioned on every other article, when there is not a single reason to believe it will happen.

Hollow Knight and SteamWorld Dig 2 are both excellent games. Same goes for The Messenger and Axiom Verge. I wouldn't add anything to this list, tbh.

100%ed Monster Boy yesterday and it definitely deserves to be on anybody's list. I'd actually rank it second only after Hollow Knight.

@MisterMan what’s Unworthy? Can’t find it in the Switch eShop...

@GrailUK I do not ever recall hearing them called that. Nor do I ever recall playing anything even n remotely like the games mentioned in an arcade.

That said I either own or have all the games listed on my wishlist. Great list!

Good choice on your part for not giving these games any definite ranking. They're all great games, and we don't need this comment section to become as vitriolic as some of the other lists on this site.

It's a great list, though I find it strange that Shantae Half-Genie Hero is on the list instead of Pirate's Curse. Half-Genie Hero isn't even much of a Metroidvania, while Pirate's Curse is one of the best representatives of the genre. That said, again, good list. Hollow Knight and Axiom Verge in particular are utterly amazing games

@Krambo42 mummy is definitely one to get. It is completely worth the price. I own all these but dead cells and iconoclasts. Even owo boy and both monster boys. But def a good grab in Mummy.

@McDerbert Unworthy is a black and white platformer inspired by Dark Souls. It's on PC as well so you can find it on the Steam store to check out. It has the typical Metroidvania stuff (getting upgrades and going back to find secrets, etc.). There's also some light character upgrade stuff, several weapons and items. There's some lore and NPC stuff (typical of Soulslike games). The game was basically made by one person so it's pretty simple, but the boss fights alone are worth playing for. They are really well done, the levels themselves are OK, but not great. I bought it in the NA Eshop, I'm not sure if it's available everywhere? It took me about 10 hours to beat but I wasn't very thorough at all, and could have probably put in another 5 hours to find secrets and maybe more bosses?

https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/unworthy-switch

@TME totally agreed

@Dirty0814 Sweet! I don't really need a game right now, but I'll add it to my wishlist. Thanks!

@PortablexombieV2 You must have lived under a rock or be relatively new to gaming mate.
http://www.everygamegoing.com/landing/mag_articles/zzap/html/reviews/c64/palace/The_Sacred_Armour_Of_Antiriad_000.html
(Check the overall score.)
Arcade in this case is referring to the type of gameplay as opposed to an arcade where you would find coin-ops lol.

Other MVs I’ve really enjoyed on Switch are:

A Robot Named Fight!
Chasm
Salt and Sanctuary

All excellent - I’d also argue that Dead Cells can’t be considered as a MV, as it has sequential levels. Nice game though!

@jswhitfield8 You may as well explain why.

@LunarFlame17 I've heard Owlboy's structure makes it more of a Zelda-like. Would you agree?

Weird, all that loads for me is Hollow Knight listed a dozen times.

Must. Play. More. Hollow Knight.

I grew up on the N64 so these games that are made to look like they were made in 1990 do nothing for me

@brunojenso Well, it’s a side-scrolling, 2D exploration game with a large interlocking map and some backtracking and you unlock new areas by acquiring new abilities, so call that what you will. I mean, there’s a lot of overlap between a “Zelda style” game and a “Metroid style” game, but Owlboy felt more Metroid style to me.

@Krambo42 Huh. I found Owlboy and Iconoclasts to be very similar, in that, they both have beautiful, retro-inspired graphics, they both have really good stories, and they both are not really that fun to play.

@JR150 I'm still in my pixel-loving phase. So no complaints from me!

@brunojenso I agree with @LunarFlame17. If forced to compare it to either Metroid or Zelda, I'd go with Metroid, no question.

@MisterMan Thanks for the detailed explanation, sounds and looks right up my street... it’s not available on the UK eShop though 😟 hopefully it will come out sometime soon, I’ll definitely pick it up if it does.

@LunarFlame17 I thought Owlboy was very fun to play :/ But anyway, I don't know. I don't really like what I've heard about the story, I think the game is kinda ugly, honestly, and I wasn't too impressed by the admittedly short demo my buddy gave me. Seemed like the puzzles could easily get annoying, and the controls were kinda frustrating.

@brunojenso

"but it's a useful catch-all term to describe a very specific type of game experience"

Nope, it's a lazy writing technique that's caught on throughout games media to describe a type of game without having to actually describe it. If you're a newbie looking at advice for video games described as a metroidvania, you're not going to know what one is, especially if you missed the snes era, or don't know what a metroid/castlevania is.

Action-platformer, 2D exploration games, side-scrolling adventure games all do the same job, and in my opinion do it better than mashing up the names of two games.

On topic, the listed games are great and well worth checking out. Couldn't agree more.

@LunarFlame17 Cool thanks for your take – and yeah I guess when you remove the perspective shift is there a particularly big difference.

I own all of them. They all belong here. You should also own them all.

@Krambo42 Yeah I wouldn’t necessarily recommend Iconoclasts, it just surprised me to hear someone say they loved Owlboy but don’t want to play Iconoclasts. I played Iconoclasts first, and as I was playing through Owlboy, I kept thinking, “Man, this really reminds me of Iconoclasts.” I did like Owlboy better, though.

Would be awesome if either Metroid or Castlevania were on this list!

Next time guacamelee goes on sale, I'm taking the plunge

Would definitely add Salt and Sanctuary to this list.

@jswhitfield8 Hmmm, In general I see your point but at least Metriodvania is a bit more specific than some other terms we use in gaming - such as JRPGs, rogue-likes, shmups. At least Metroidvania gives you a fairly reasonable idea. 'Platformer' for example used to mean something very specific but now it's used in a very loose sense that drives me crazy - and recently NL did an article on the best so called platformers. Half the games on the list were not at all - and they missed many of the most prominent examples on Switch. To me the decades-long established genre grouping for a platformer is something like:

An action based game that revolves predominately around precision jumping in particular - with many 'true platformers' also involving the classic jumping-on-heads attack move. But NL's list included a lot of Metroidvanias, rogue-likes and run and guns that have never traditional been consider platformers. The article showed me most of these terms are losing meaning and that even professional gaming websites that I generally respect don't give a c**p about using established game-genre conventions.

Maybe we need to start from scratch ...and I'd agree with your terms 'Action-platformer, 2D exploration games, side-scrolling adventure' being a good starting point.

I hate this fad of calling games by the name of a another game or mash up of names... it’s often misleading and always annoying. Agree with what others are saying about better genre based names.

Completed steam world dig 2 a couple of days ago. What a game! Had great fun from start to finish. Will defo grab the 1st one.

Honestly I've never heard "castloid" before, and I think we should keep it that way.

Mark of the Ninja should also be considered. Superb game!

Excuse me Nintendo Life, but why on earth is Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo not on this list?

Of that list which are the top three? or I need a ranked list that would help narrow down which one or two I might buy. I already have Axiom Verge on Wii U which if you like Super Metroid I would dare to say it's even better.

Seems any old platformer these days is branded “Metroidvania”.

My favourite Metroidvania games are Metroid games and Castlevania games.

Sundered Eldritch Edition is my number one

Too bad there’s not a physical release of Mummy Demastered

@Valdney Ye. I must admit that game is very high on my wanting to own list.

So many games that I’ve loved on this list. I think this list might have benefitted more from listing franchises like Guacamelee and Shantae in their entirety instead of listing their latest games.

I played Mummy before it was adjusted with some updates. It was frustrating to get a game breaking bug 3/4 through it, and then a glitch in my second playthrough with the final boss that took out the challenge. 5/10 for me, but I’m sure it’s better now.

The only truly frustrating thing is that there are no Metroid nor Castlevania titles except for Metroid on NES for Switch.

I own and have completed all of these other than ironclasts and the mummy. Both are on my wish list and will be next in line when they go on sale.

It’s funny, this is my favorite genre and I really enjoyed (or loved in a few cases) every game on this list other than axiom verge. I know it’s a master class to most people but I felt it was a slog and was happy to finally beat with no desire to continue after to find secrets.

I would add the games Ghost 1.0 and omega strike as other (smaller) hidden gems in the genre as well. I really enjoyed both games and enjoyed the short 10 or so hours of each. Also both are around $10 and can usually be gotten on good sales from time to time. I think I paid $5 for Ghost and $6 for Omega.

Where is Odallus? That is the best Metroidvania I've played since Castlevania SOTN and Super Metroid.

@GrailUK It's very enjoyable.

Sorry, you guys totally butchered the name Metroidvania...

I am going to play the Metroidvania game super mario Bros. 2 😒

@Edgarmtanaka game of the year since 1988

Feudal Alloy.

All the fun of Hollow Knight without being a huge waste of time.

I can't put my finger on why, but I just don't like Hollow Knight. I like the genre and I typically like a good challenge, but something about the pacing in Hollow Knight just rubs me the wrong way. I actually much preferred Salt and Sanctuary.

The two accepted definitions of Metroidvania:
1) A platformer (jumping on platforms!) where you can go in and out of levels, upgrading your items to access more levels and beat harder bosses. Going by where the word comes from, there probably needs to be either castles or rockets. ex. Dig 2
2) A platformer where you play each level in order, sometimes gaining better weapons when you beat bosses. ex. Mega Man

Personally, I like definition #1 more. I don't even know what Castlevania and Metroid are actually like because when I tried the originals, they were too pixelated to enjoy. For all I know they could be more like definition #2.

Why pick Shantae 1/2 Genie Hero, a level-based platformer over Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, an actual Metroidvania?

Hm, what a list. Shantae, Axiom, Hollow Knight, and Yoku are all fantastic. But I don't know why Iconoclasts keeps getting mentioned. I played it through and it just lacked heart. Blaster Master was pretty good. Some of the other I haven't played yet but expect to enjoy. And yes Owlboy could be added, but again, I didn't really think it was all that great.

Hollow Knight would be my favourite metroidvania game on the list, although if Monsterboy were up the too I'd probably pick that.
I guess I'm one of the few out there that prefers Half Genie Hero over Pirates cures by the sound of it. I will say that I still think Pirates Curse is brilliant and probably more of a metroidvania then Half Genie Hero.
As for the term 'metroidvainia', I vote we keep it. When some one says metroidvania I pretty much know right away what they're getting at. And it's unique to our hobby. Things like that are what make this industry fun, I dont know why people get upset about it.

Never knew so many people got MetroidVania wrong. Which really should be called Metroid like because the first Castlevania that did the Metroid formula came way after the fact. It's a game that you play, gain new abilities to access new areas requiring backtracking etc...

I'd add A Robot Named Fight! to the list. It mixes some roguelite elements into framework inspired by Super Metroid with pretty satisfying results. (As much as I love Dead Cells--which is LOTS--I think Robot Named Fight does a better job of really hybridizing these styles.) Plus it has lots of mutant alien gore. YMMV, but the somewhat randomized nature of roguelites really keeps me coming back in a way that more traditional metroidvanias don't anymore.

The Messenger really is fantastic, and I even listen to the soundtrack in my car quite often. It's such a great listen.

I'd never really heard The Mummy Demastered was worth playing. I may have to look into it.

The absence of Monster Boy in this list is disgusting.

This is weird. I was expecting way more comments that follow this following storyline that follows below:

1.) "I refuse to play (insert one of the best games ever) until it comes out on a tiny chip inside of a plastic clamshell with some dorky stickers."

2.) "And if that day comes, and it's being offered by (insert random limited release style manufacturer), I won't play it, ever."

3.) "The jokes on you, you guyz. In five hundred years, when I'm a cyborg connected to the internet with nano-bot implants and there's no parts for my broken Nintendo Switch, I will totally be keeping track of that game card the size of my thumbnail."

Personally, the ones I really enjoyed from this list are Hollow Knight and Axiom Verge.

I really did not care for Steamworld Dig 2 (despite loving the first game) or The Messenger.

The one I'm eager to try next is Momodora. Any reason that one didn't make the list? I've only heard very positive things about it.

@RushDawg I'm guessing because HGH is the only shantae game they can add an amazon affiliate link to xD

Sad there's no mention of Toki Tori 2+ , my favorite next to hollow knight

Yoku’s Island Express is such a fun game! Similar game mechanics to Donkey Kong’s Crash Course (in Nintendo Land).

Does Blaster Master Zero on the 3DS feature stereoscopic 3D? I cannot find concrete info on this anywhere at all. Not even on the official website or eShop pages. Or lists of stereoscopic games. Or.. anywhere.

The fact that A Robot Named Fight is not on this list-- a true roguelite love letter to Super Metroid-- is NOTHING less than a travesty. It's more Metroid than pretty much every game on this list.

It's actually a Metvania, or a Castleroid. A successful portmanteau should combine parts of two words, not use a whole word and a partial word, like Metroidvania. May as well use Metroid altogether, especially when Castlevania was initially known mostly as a linear style of game before adopting the Metroid style for Simon's Quest and, especially, the GBA and DS games. Since Metroid started the genre, a Metvania would be preferable to a Castleroid, both with game style and medically speaking, of course.

The only one on this list I've played is Blaster Master Zero. I put in about 5 hours before moving onto other things. I'll consider The Messenger, Steamworld Dig 2, Dead Cells, Guacamelee 2 and Hollow Knight in time.

@sketchturner

I enjoyed it, but it is definitely not as deep and lenghty as something like Hollow Knight.

Ghost 1.0 deserves to be on that list. A good ten-ish hours of fun with well though-out level design (much better than Axiom Verge in that regard), plenty of different weapons, a lot of secrets to discover and no grinding or boring backtracking (looking at you Hollow Knight). And for less than 10 bucks.

Metroidvania, the term is now part of video game culture. Get some culture you pagans.

@sketchturner Momodora is one of my favorites, It’s a bit short but I loved the boss fights and overall feel of the game. Combat feels very satisfying.

@jswhitfield8 It's a very specific sub-genre that none of those names accurately describe. It's not very hard for someone to just look up the traits of a Metroidvania upon first encountering the term.

It's no different that someone initially encountering the term "RPG" or even the full name of "role-playing game," another popular genre with a rather obtuse name that's complicated to properly explain, especially when it's then divided into subgenres like Western, Japanese, strategic/tactical, action, MMO, etc.

@LinkSword yeah! Why isn’t Momodora on this list?!

Ghost 1.0 is also great. It looks a bit bland graphically, but at least they didn't go for generic 16 bit graphics.

It has some interesting mechanics, lots of powerups and upgradable weapons. I also like how consistent the game world is. There is even an in-universe explanation for the saverooms. I like attention to detail like that.

And last but not least I loved the story and characters, especially Ghost herself.

Having never played Metroid or Castlevania, the phrase Metroidvania is meaningless. But I played a lot of action adventure games in the 80s.

Same with Rogue-like, having never played Rogue, I’m clueless as to what this entails. Although I do know it gets confused with Rogue-lite ... which I also know nothing about.

@GrailUK nope I am too old is the problem. When I hear arcade I am taken back to rooms full of quarter munching machines. I forget that the label is applied to games that will never know what a real arcade is.

It's a good job A Robot Named Fight didn't release before Metroid, otherwise we'd be arguing about what constitutes ARobotNamedVania.

Axiom Verge starts well, but I've lost the will to continue with it around the area that's outside.

@Krambo42 We've added Monster Boy and Owlboy. The intention moving forward is to make these lists more organic and ensure they evolve over time, so we don't mind adding stuff we've missed

I own 9 of those games (yes, sucker for metroidvanias) and absolute adore hollow knight, the messenger and axiom verge.
For some reason steam world dig 2 did not resonate with me (I sincerely believe is a very crappy game), would not consider shantae or Yoku in the genre and absolutely disagree with dead cells as medroidvania as procedurely generated content do not go along

@Damo Good work guys, thanks.

@TME which monster boy are you referring to?

Ghost 1.0 gets a recommendation from me, based on the short amount of time I've spent on it.

@Damo Great to hear! Thanks!!

@PlayedNSlayed Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom.

Seems it's got a lot of good feedback so may pick it up in a sale.....whenever that'll be 😄

@LunarFlame17 I wouldn't classify Owlboy as a Metroidvania, though I could say the same about more than one game on this list.

@Damo but then what about A Robot Named Fight pleeeeease?

(am biased because I'm the publisher and friends with the dev, but as objectively as possible)

@damo Dandara would be worth adding to the list, especially since the update. I'd encourage anyone who was discouraged by the difficulty level to go back and have another go. That's what I did and I wasn't disappointed. The map being able to now be orientated to the direction the character is facing is the greatest improvement and the way you move between platforms is much smarter this time around aswell, ie the game seems to just 'know' where you want to jump to without having to directly point towards it.

I'm not sick of Metroidvania yet, keep an bringing more!

@gamekill I got Blaster Master Zero on 3DS because I hadn't bought a Switch yet at the time. Disappointingly it does not have stereoscopic 3D at all. I also thought that it was just ok. Not bad but not great. I never found much of a challenge in it so it kind of felt like I was just going through the motions to get through it.

I haven't played the sequel. Can anyone tell me if that one is worth getting, for someone who didn't especially like the first one?

With so many games on switch now I really appreciate lists like this and as someone else mentioned, I'm glad that the games weren't ranked in this list.

But many of the games listed here I don't really consider metroidvanias. For me a true metroidvania isn't just an interconnected map, but it has to have exploration and a sense that you can go in many different directions. Some of the games in this list are completely linear so you're essentially just playing a series of levels in order, even if they are interconnected.

Hollow Knight and Axiom Verge are outstanding examples of what I consider true metroidvanias.

anyone know when or if Shantae 1 and 2 will be on The Switch?

I like how this has been updated to include time-spinner and Gato Roboto. I’ve completed time spinner and enjoyed it very much. Just started gato about ten min ago and so far so good.

@Zach777 how big/what type is your sd card?

@dDankGM

SanDisk 1TB micro SD

@Zach777 wow, didn't even know the switch can even handle a size like that

@dDankGM

I’m pretty sure it can handle up to 2TB micro SD cards but no one has manufactured one of that size yet.

Updated with Blasphemous

Glad to see this list continues to be updated. I even ended up saving this as a link on iPhones homepage now to periodically check. The only think that would make this article better would be to have every metroidvania game on the switch listed even if only the top ones were discussed in any depth. That way I could really know if I had a chance to view all of them. Everyone has those few games they love but haven’t reviewed well and others don’t like as much. Mine is Unepic and it is the game that got me into metroidvanias. Still love that game and probably give it another play through about once a year. I wish the developer would expand the castle or allow an editor so others could. I’ve played his other game, ghost 1.0 and while I enjoyed it, something about it didn’t click as much with me as unepic. Plus I’ve never found another game like it.